pizza stanch

Today: local Pizza place delivery car stopping by
Sunshine: finally!!!!  Seriously, this seems to be the first day it has not been cloudy and
overcast in nearly a week?  Longer, perhaps.
Yesterday while driving, saw a Ford 4x4, with a bumper sticker that said something like this:
Warning: in case of the Rapture, this car will become unmanned.
Okay, then...

Happy reunion show

One nice thing about the airport is due to its relatively small size, all the returning travelers must exit
through one set of stairs and there are a bunch of chairs set up in the "waiting" area/lobby.  You can
sit there and immediately see the person(s) you are waiting for.  It makes meeting people very easy.
And while you are waiting there, like I was yesterday, you can watch the "Happy Reunion Show". 
Little girl runs up to happily greet mom, mom scoops her up, very touching.  Older folks pick up
returning college kid.  Too cool dad greets wife & young kids.  Other family and friends reunite.
It's a great show to watch and you get front row seats to all the drama! 

an observation

Reading upside down for extended periods of time sort of makes my head hurt and
to me, makes the words look like another language.  Trying to follow along with what
someone is reading (ie. if you are giving a reading test) and looking at said passage upside down,
kind of messes with my eyes and brain, and after a while the words don't even look like English to me.

first snow

First brush of snow, Veteran's Day... more notable for the fact that yesterday it was 60 degrees during
the morning/early afternoon and dropped about 30 degrees...

addendum

I forgot to add this quote:
"Pigs outnumber people 6-1 in Iowa..."
I'll have to double-check that but could be true.  Good thing our newly elected senator is
all about cutting "pork"...

more pork

and returning to the category of " I can't make this stuff up... "
under a local story about today's bacon expo

" also feature a bacon eating contest, where 20 participants will be asked to eat half a pound of bacon as fast as they can. Finalists will then be required to eat five bacon cupcakes, and the fastest eater will be crowned the winner. " (Ames Trib)

Apparently the 3 components being focused on in this year's event (the 2nd annual one), are:
education, vendors and entertainment.

I know I am always heard to be decrying the lack of "bacon-education" in this state... Won't someone
please think of the children...

Also, accompanying this article, a candid shot of woman eating bacon (in case you wondered how it was done.  Insert in mouth, close teeth, etc.) 

where everybody knows my name...

Today I discovered there is a SE Karen Drive in my neighborhood. 
I found it accidentally, while taking a "short-cut"...

adventures in (mis)translation

Instructions from our (Taiwan-made) rice cooker:

"As a safety feature, this plug will fit in a polarized outlet only one way.  If the plug does not fit fully in the outlet, reverse the plug.  If it still does not fit, contact a qualified electrician.  Do not attempt to defeat this safety feature."

(you will not win!)

Alpaca Days!

There are many many cool things about alpacas.

They're cute, have very nice, very soft fur, and big eyes (thus lending to their cuteness).  Their fur
is softer (and warmer) than llamas. They make this nice little humming sound that means they are
content and lets other alpacas know they're around. They have one offspring at a time, called a cria. There are a couple alpaca farms in this part of Iowa and this weekend was National Alpaca Farm Days!  Time to show off your wonderful alpacas! Who wouldn't want one of these adorable little alpacas????

random

Today I met someone from Moldova, a country I admittedly know very little about.
I actually asked if she was Russian, based on my perception of her accent.

next reason

Okay, that wasn't hard...

Long-sleeved cotton t-shirt at a local boutique, for $40, with
"Gun totin' America lovin cowgirl" emblazoned on the front, along with red rhinestones
On the back it proclaims "Cowgirl justice".

reasons I wish I had a secret camera in my head

1. bushy bearded cook/prep guy in the open-kitchen restaurant wearing a "hair" net over his
bushy beard

2. sign for "pork pizza' somewhere

3. tiny wiry little dog on a leash at the farmer's market

4. kids playing with hula hoops at a block party

Those are all I'm thinking of right now... will try to list more as they come to me.

Bike rack

or giant puzzle...

universality

Maybe a comment on the universality of things--- kids who are picky eaters--
I was eating dinner with a group of the Nepali ELL students and watching one of
the kids pick apart her samosa-- until she had emptied it of its savory filling (peas and potatoes),
and just ate the outside wrapping of the samosa!  I asked her mom about it and she said, yes, she only
likes the outside of the samosa!  :-)

strange looking fruit

a hedge apple ( a bumpy, hard textured fruit)
found at the Iowa Arboretum

farmagedeon

I recently found out that in Kansas, the match-up between rival teams of K-State and KU,
is called: "farmagedon".  Oddly enough I discovered this when talking with a gov't employee
on the phone about health insurance! 

PA bests IA in dairy-art work

Thank you once again, NPR for enlightening me:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/01/11/169085074/this-butter-sculpture-could-power-a-farm-for-3-days

Penn, specifically the farm show in Harrisburg, boasts an impressive 1000 lb butter sculpture...
outdoing the Iowa state fair! 

And what's more...taking recycling/reuse to a new level, the entire 1000 piece dairy-art will now be converted into methane gas which will then be used to power a farm. 
 I'll omit the part about the pit covered in cow manure...

New butter sculptures

Exciting news... in addition to the plethora of deeply-fried foods, there will be some
new dairy-themed artwork at the state fair.
The feature-butter sculpture this year will be celebrating the iconic Field of Dreams movie.
And because I can't make this stuff up:
"The butter sculptures will feature elements from America's favorite past-time of baseball and the rural Iowa landscape, all in butter"

more connections...

I just noticed an upcoming exhibit at the Des Moines art center:
jointly organized with none other than the Warhol Museum!!!!!!!

http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/exhibitions/Halston-and-Warhol.aspx

Who wants to come to Iowa this fall for a visit?

talk about the weather

Tornado siren alert #2 this summer... 1:30 a.m. last night.

More thunderstorms predicted for rest of this week.

I always feel like...somebody's watching me...

When I was getting gas today, imagine my surprise when I after I had finished pumping the gas, I
heard out of nowhere, a disembodied voice saying, "driver at pump 2, with the Toyota"... At first I thought there might be some problem but no, the "voice" just told me to have a good day.  I managed to mumble an "okay, uh thanks" to which the "voice" responded "You're welcome".  I think I'd almost
rather they go back to having annoying music piped in while you're pumping gas, than conversing
with this mystery voice.

The Pittsburgh diaspora continues...

Today on our bike ride, we stopped to investigate a movie theater (tucked back off the main road) that
is just a few blocks away.   There were just a few cars in the parking lot.  Of course, I noticed the one
which had Steelers license plate frames AND Steelers seat covers in the front seats!  This makes 2
cars that I have noticed (one was another tenant in the former apartment bldg) with Steelers decor +
my friend Ron, who is a native Pittsburgher, even though he has lived here at least 30 yrs or so!  He still  was happy to display his Steelers watch to me the first time (and possibly subsequent times) that we met!
Also, why are people just hanging around in their cars in the movie theater parking lot, including one person eating pizza in her car?  Are they waiting for a movie to start?  Are they picking someone up who works there?  Are they movie theater lurkers?  All so mysterious.

states of excess?

In an advertisement for a local movie theater:

Receive One Free 46 oz. Popcorn Every Tuesday with Each Paid Admission

Wow, 46 ounces?  Are you kidding?  Whatever happened to the small, medium, large dichotomy?
Clearly, I don't purchase popcorn at movies very often anymore, but who eats 46 oz. of popcorn in
one sitting?  How long are the movies anyway? 

Just click your heels together...

Last night, got an Emergency Alert Message warning about a possible impending tornado!
Definite negative about living in the Midwest...Yeah, I guess everywhere has its problems.
East coast has had major snowstorms and cold, West coast has heat waves, drought, and earthquakes,
Northwest has mudslides or whatever that thing was in Oso. 
Luckily, the tornado warnings died down and the storm turned into a loud thunderstorm.

We sack

In written form now:
Sign at check-out at grocery store:

"We sack in plastic unless otherwise requested."

The great sack/bag debate continues...

observations from Friday...

Pretty sure I just saw the guy (bearded) from Duck Dynasty shopping at Hy-vee before.

If you've ever wondered how the world is experienced...

as a chicken... the virtual reality chicken coop, allows you to see the world as a chicken.

Second Livestock is a virtual reality world for conventionally farmed chickens- as designed
by an asst. prof in integrated studio arts.  I had a live demonstration of the CCI (Chicken-Computer Interface).  Below: me using the virtual-reality mask and track-ball to navigate my chicken:

 The view through the chicken's eyes!

pig

It's totally a pig!

Also there is an art display downtown, starting tonight, which, among other pieces,
includes a "virtual reality free-range chicken farm".
I'm intrigued...

These are the people in my neighborhood

I'm pretty sure that I just drove by a house where there was a pig, on a leash, in the front yard.
Either that or a pretty large dog with a pig-like snout.  I slowed down a bit, trying to get a better look.
I'll have to go back and check this out again. 

The eyes...

Yesterday, this bizarre, somewhat creepy owl decoy was installed on a pole on the roof of the building directly across from our apartment.  As in, looking out the living room windows, I see this weird, yellow-eyed owl.  It feels very Gatsby-like, I'm channeling Nick Carraway here, seeing the giant eyes on the billboard, that appeared to be watching you.  This vaguely menacing looking owl is peering into the window, bobbing slightly in the breeze. It's not really something you want to look out your window to see staring down at you.

And since the property manager has told us we could no longer have our window bird-feeder, we cannot look at birds anymore.  Apparently the owners of the other bldg still have not solved their bird dilemma, so this monstrosity has been erected to further deter any birds!

coal mining...

Listening to an interesting story about Iowa's history of coal mining...

The Iowa-y

Random Fact for today:

Iowa has 99 counties, which were designed to be small enough so that any resident could
reach the county seat in a day's buggy ride.

*courtesy of "An Explorer's Guide: Iowa", Lauren Rice

"Gothic" house

in Eldon, IA, the house that inspired the famous painting "American Gothic"...

the winter that won't die...

More snow??? Seriously, it's March 24th! 

nice

Oh, that's what not being cold feels like...

It's been so long, I'd forgotten!

winter ends...

Hopefully yesterday was the last day of a long, tiresome winter.

By Anthony Capps
Staff Writer
acapps@amestrib.com

This winter was the coldest in Iowa in 35 years.
The meteorological season of winter, which runs from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28, with an average temperature of 14.7 degree — or 7.2 degrees below normal — was the ninth coldest on the 141 years of recording weather.
The same can be said for Ames, which lined up almost precisely with the statewide average for winter temperature.
The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal.

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

Ames winter temperatures:


December: 16.7 degrees (6.4 degrees below normal), 9 days the temperature fell below zero

January: 14.3 degrees (5.5 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero

February: 13.3 degrees (11.4 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero

Ames winter temperatures
December: 16.7 degrees (6.4 degrees below normal), 9 days the temperature fell below zero
January: 14.3 degrees (5.5 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero
February: 13.3 degrees (11.4 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero
- See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

Ames winter temperatures
December: 16.7 degrees (6.4 degrees below normal), 9 days the temperature fell below zero
January: 14.3 degrees (5.5 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero
February: 13.3 degrees (11.4 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero
- See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

Ames winter temperatures
December: 16.7 degrees (6.4 degrees below normal), 9 days the temperature fell below zero
January: 14.3 degrees (5.5 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero
February: 13.3 degrees (11.4 degrees below normal), 13 days the temperature fell below zero
- See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal. - See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal. - See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal. - See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal. - See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

By Anthony Capps
Staff Writer
acapps@amestrib.com

This winter was the coldest in Iowa in 35 years.
The meteorological season of winter, which runs from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28, with an average temperature of 14.7 degree — or 7.2 degrees below normal — was the ninth coldest on the 141 years of recording weather.
The same can be said for Ames, which lined up almost precisely with the statewide average for winter temperature.
The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal.

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

By Anthony Capps
Staff Writer
acapps@amestrib.com

This winter was the coldest in Iowa in 35 years.
The meteorological season of winter, which runs from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28, with an average temperature of 14.7 degree — or 7.2 degrees below normal — was the ninth coldest on the 141 years of recording weather.
The same can be said for Ames, which lined up almost precisely with the statewide average for winter temperature.
The Ames temperature, which is measured at the airport, recorded 16.7, 14.3 and 13.3 degrees in December, January and February. February was the coldest with a total of 13 days with temperatures under zero —and tied January — and 11.4 degrees colder than normal.

- See more at: http://amestrib.com/news/ames-has-coldest-winter-decades#sthash.idXsPn79.dpuf

s'march snow

It seems to have been snowing pretty much, steadily, since last night at 5 pm.

the international city...

Earlier I talked with a new cashier at the co-op who had an interesting accent and it turned out
she was originally from Germany.  But not Berlin.  I exposed my unfortunate level of ignorance
because I hadn't really heard of the city she was from and asked if that was the Bavarian region, mostly because I have heard of that and it's one of the factoids I know about geography.  Except
this woman was from somewhere in the North and apparently that is nowhere near Bavaria (in the south).  Also unfortunately I distracted her so much with my chit chat and questions and curiosity that she forgot to give me my change! ( I think she was new working there).
I probably could have thought of more things to ask her but there was another customer in line.

more secrets of the syrup...

Today at the Grove cafe...
the owner issued a stern warning to a customer who was about to handle
the syrup in an incorrect manner-- which would have caused syrup to spray in a sort
of direct projectile and get all over everything.  The syrup pouring must be done in a precise
manner to avoid such conflict.
Luckily today I had grilled cheese and no need for use of the syrup or any potential mishandling of it.
Phew.

Cy-borg

I picked up this "Cy" mask at a local store:
Our ISU mascot... part bird, part Cyclone

syrup saga, pt. ii

Well we returned to the scene of the crime aka the Grove for breakfast. 
The special of the day was peach pancakes.

We inquired with Larry about the missing syrup container and apparently
it had shown up on someone's Facebook page (yay technology) weeks after
the syrup theft incident.

Everyone appeared in good spirits though and seemed to have gotten over the syrup thievery!

chillie..

Well, according to our local tv station it is colder here today than in Anchorage, Alaska.  Yay
for this arctic plunge or polar vortex, whatever they are calling it.